


Fall from Grace

by frostvalkyries



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Rogues, Angst, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-30 16:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13955814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frostvalkyries/pseuds/frostvalkyries
Summary: Iris West became an Officer to investigate the disappearance of Barry Allen. Six years and a particle accelerator explosion later, Captain Cold steps onto the scene with his rouges: Golden Glider, Heatwave, White Canary, and Lightning.





	1. Chapter 1

_Barry: Hey, don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow, I gotta go._

Iris turned off her phone, shakily taking a breath. Here she was, about to ask Cisco to find someone who’s been gone for years. It’s dumb, the case had gone cold years ago. But today was the six year anniversary of his disappearance and she can’t help but imagine what he would look like now if he never disappeared. He would have been twenty five and undoubtedly he would have been hired as a CCPD CSI. He probably would be close friends with Cisco and Caitlin like Iris was and maybe Iris wouldn’t have this heavy weight in her heart every time she looked at his files, tears pooling in her eyes. 

“What’s up Iris?” Cisco called from the Cortex, messing with his suit. Iris fought the urge to laugh at this not so uncommon sight. It made her feel at least a little bit better than she had when she first walked in here. Here she had friends that went through thick and thin with her. Caitlin can even relate, having her fiance disappear because of the particle accelerator. Now is the time, Iris decided. 

“Hey you know when you said you’d help me with anything? I kinda need your help looking for someone,” Iris explained, referencing the file in her hand. She hoped he would be able to help at least a little bit even though he was Vibe, Central City’s hero. Him and Caitlin a.k.a Frost, take down lots of bad guys. And maybe they could find Barry. It was common belief that he was dead though. 

The last place she’d seen him at was a little cafe called the Motor Car Cafe, where two days before he and all of his friends disappeared, he met with Iris and her Dad. Nothing had been out of the ordinary, he was just telling them that he was moving apartments and would text them the new address. As far as last memories go, those weren’t bad. He’d been smiling the whole time, especially when he was recounting the stories he had with some of his friends. Iris remembered particularly well when he complained that his friend Liz forced him to watch dumb rom-coms with her because the rest of the girls in their friend group refused to. She also remembered with perfect clarity when she went to his old address and the door was slightly off its hinges and this feeling of dread set over her so fast she felt as if she were gonna vomit. After a minute she decided to go into the apartment, to find all of his stuff pack neatly into boxes, save one photo of him and his parents from when he was young. Splattered across the wall beside that was blood, explaining the bloody finger prints along the edges of the frame. Later reports would guess that when Barry was bleeding out, he wanted to see his parents one last time. The rest was a blur to her, calling the police and hearing the sirens as she just stared at the photo, before collapsing in tears because they couldn’t find him- They couldn’t find him.

“Sure, I’ll try to find them. Who is it?” Cisco asked, dropping down into a chair with his hands ready to start typing away. 

“Barry Allen,” Iris answered, gazing down at the file held tight in her hands with a defeat. She’s become an Officer to find him (against her Dad’s wishes of course) but had made no progress at all. 

“No way man, That case was all over the news. Wasn’t that before you graduated the academy?” Cisco asked, questioning Iris’s interest in the six year old case. Technically, she shouldn’t even be looking at it much less investigating it. Conflict of interest or something like that. 

“Yeah but I’m the one that discovered he was missing. We grew up together,” Iris explained and Cisco nodded. He felt bad, anyone could see it in his eyes. He quickly typed at the keyboard, the clacking of the keys being the only noise present in the Cortex. Iris settled to lean on the main wall, re-reading the case file for what felt like the hundredth time. 

**Name** : Bartholomew Henry Allen

**Status** : Missing

**Age** : Nineteen 

**DOB** : July 29, 1990

**Family** : Henry Allen (Deceased), Nora Allen (Deceased), Joes West (Foster father), Iris west (Foster sister) 

**Contacts** : Iris West, Sara Lance (missing), Felicity Smoak (missing), Liz D’oro (missing), Lee D’oro (no proof of existence), Mark Fuoco (no proof of existence), August Heart 

**Last Place Seen** : Motor Car Café

“Iris?” Caitlin called as she walked into the Cortex. Iris snapped the file closed and straightened up. The doctor sighed and pursed her lips as she read something on her phone.

“Yeah?” Iris called out, ignoring the hollow feeling reading the file created. 

“Can you do comms? There's a truck robbery that I think will need both Cisco and me,” She explained, pulling up the distress signals on the TV. Iris nodded, put down the file, and opened up the comms. 

“Go! I’ll cover you on comms,” Iris waves the two away as they put on their masks. 

Caitlin sighs as she turns her hair white and she shrugs on her blue jacket. Cisco quickly puts on his goggles and the pair steps through the swirling blue portal. It’s a weird sensation, going through the portal, but neither pukes (anymore). At the location, there are four people all dressed similarly in black. One is drumming their fingers on the getaway car’s steering wheel anxiously, two have guns at the guards’ heads and one is looking through the boxes in the back of the trunk. The man in the back of the trunk whips around to look at them. Cisco decides at that moment to shoot a vibrational blast at him so he wouldn’t alert the others. The only problem was that it was too late and the man managed shout out something- most likely a name but Caitlin couldn’t be sure. Suddenly then, a woman dropped from the top of the truck where she had been waiting. 

“I dig the white hair,” She said before winking at Caitlin. Caitlin’s only response was to stare at her blankly because did that woman just hit on her in the middle of a fight? The woman moved quickly, pulling out an extendable bo staff and making a move to hit them. Caitlin managed to catch it in her hand, making the staff brittle and breakable. 

“Help the guards, Vibe!” Caitlin called out before committing herself to a fight with this woman clad in white. She wore no mask but Caitlin still couldn’t recognize her but she had an edge of familiarity. 

“Okay, did you really have to break my bo staff?” The girl asked, feigning sadness. She frowned as she did a spin kick that landed right on Caitlin’s ribs with a crack. 

“Did you really have to break my ribs?” Caitlin wheezed, stumbling backwards. She clutched her midsection and hoped the police would get there soon. 

“I like you,” The girl stated as Caitlin shot ice at her feet, making her do a backflip to avoid it. “You have spirit,” She added as she successfully landed. 

“Canary!” The man from the back shouted as he got into getaway car. 

“Catch you later Frost,” The Woman, Canary, said while getting into the truck. 

“Vibe! We need to go!” Caitlin shouted, her pain increasing with each breath. God, her ribs really were broken. Cisco quickly turned to her and opened a portal. He dragged her through it with him quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay, I can't believe your childhood nemesis actually tried to steal the files on the rogues from you. What is he, an idiot?" Cisco asked as Iris entered the Cortex. Iris laughed a little bit before the lights suddenly shut off. Cisco literally spun in a circle, searching for someone to have turned off the lights. The room got colder as Caitlin's hair turned white and Iris subconsciously shivered. 

"I'm gonna call Laurel, see if team Arrow's I.T. person can turn the lights back on," Iris said, slowly pulling out her phone. Her eyes, however, were everywhere but her phone, looking for the intruder, before a ringing noise emitted from the lab's intercom system.

"Yeah, that's gonna be a no can do," A voice called, halting the ringing. 

"Snart?" Caitlin called cautiously, her eyes narrowing at the sound of the hero's current archenemy. The man's familiar drawl had put the heroes on edge. He was smart and unpredictable, equally as deadly as Frost.

"You have to specify which. There's two of us, you know." Golden Glider called through the intercom, laughter at the edge of her voice. This seemed to be a joke to the two of them, Making Iris scowl. They shouldn't take Cisco, Caitlin, or her lightly. It pissed off Iris so much, she was unable to hold back her comment.

"What do you want? You both do realize i'm a detective for the CCPD," Iris demanded, her arms crossed as she glared at the security camera. She figured if they had hacked the intercom system, they most likely had access to the lab's cameras too. So much for Caitlin and Cisco's secret identities.

"Well, one of our members has decided, for some reason, to help people, specifically metas in need of help. Like called Bette San Souci who, if not helped, could cause a lot of havok through out Central City," Lisa said before there was a click signifying that the two Snarts were off the intercom, leaving the three in the dark. At least until the cortex lit up with lightning, leaving only a woman behind. She looked confused, glancing around. Her red hair went down to her shoulders, and she spotted the trio in the Cortex fairly quickly. 

"The kid in the lighting said you guys could help me. Who are you?" 

" _Lightning_! That's his name!"

That started the trend of metas just appearing in the cortex. Lightning, as Cisco called him, would deem a meta redeemable and would run them into the cortex to get training of their powers. There was Plastique, Magenta, Shade, Doctor Light, and Firestorm so far. Lightning only came back to visit Magenta though he made her promise to not tell anyone who he was. He'd gotten her enough proof on her foster father that he was thrown into jail and she got a new foster family. She still came back on Sunday afternoons, the so called "training days" where Cisco and Caitlin would help the metas control their powers. Ronnie and Stein were the only ones who agreed to be a full time superhero like Frost and Vibe. 

__

"Ronnie how did Lightning find you and Stein?" Cisco asked one day, watching video footage of the Rogues escaping another CCPD set trap. They disappeared in a flash of lightning, with a note saying _Sorry about that_ and all the loot set in a neat pile. 

__

"I'm not sure. One minute the two of us were arguing over how to control our powers, the next we're in Star Labs, absolutely no idea what just happened to us," Ronnie explained. That moment, however, the two girls of the team burst into the cortex. 

__

"Oh my God, you will not believe what we just got!" Iris squealed, holding up a thin piece of paper. Ronnie looked at his Fiancée in confusing, trying to read her face. He got nothing other than the fact she's excited via a small smile on her face. 

__

"What?" He asked, now trying to read the little slip. Iris burst out giggling again, leaving Caitlin to explain. 

__

"It turns out Iris's buddy Laurel is the Black Canary so she gave us the number to contact her, the Arrow, Arsenal, and Spartan. Now we have a support system of Heros but Iris is only excited because she thinks the Arrow is hot," Caitlin explains, the last comment turning Iris's face bright pink. 

__

"He's on my three list. Him, Oliver Queen, and Zac Efron," Iris added, seemingly ridding herself of any shame. Cisco and Caitlin rolled their eyes, used to that by now. Iris had almost cried in excitement when she found out her friend Laurel was Laurel Lance, Oliver's ex. 

__

"More importantly, do you think they could help us take down the rogues? They're the only people who have been consistently kicking our butts," Cisco asked, gesturing to the paused video of the criminals. 

__

"Lets call and ask," Caitlin stated, pulling out her phone. 

__

\-------

__

Three days and four hours later, both Team Arrow and Team Star (They had just too many people to name after just one) were huddled together in the cortex. The Arrow began to go over the plan again, making sure that everyone was paying attention. Team Arrow's I.T. person had hacked into the Rogues' computers and discovered there was a heist planned in an hour. 

__

"Can't I be teamed up Laurel?" Iris whined, fiddling with her badge. The Arrow sighed, annoyed that he had to explain the plan again. 

__

"Because you will be behind and you will arrest them along with your boyfriend," Oliver explained, giving Iris a death glare. She smiled at him before going back to her phone, presumably texting the mentioned boyfriend. 

__

The suiting up took twenty minutes and the transportation alone took the rest of the hour. By the time the whole team got there, sans Iris and Eddie, the Rogues were already escaping. Golden Glider and Captain Cold had their guns pocketed, too busy carrying fragile antiques. Heatwave held his gun out, ready to roast whoever gets in his way. White Canary wasn't prepared however, making jokes with the only other girl in the group, nearly causing her to drop the vase she was holding. 

__

"Faster! As much as I love a challenge, I can't exactly fight with this glass box in my hand. We need to get out of here before the so called heros get here," Captain Cold said, motioning forward with free hand. White Canary nodded, like she agreed with him. 

__

"It's a bit too late," Cisco stated, walking closer to the group of villains, but just out of Rory's gun's range. 

__

"Are you sure you want to do this? We kicked your ass last time," White Canary mocked, getting in position to fight.

__


	3. Chapter 3

"Give up now, we have you surrounded," Oliver called out, hid bow pointed directly at White Canary. She flashed a grin at him, clearly not taking him seriously. The other rouges tensed, preparing themselves for he on coming fight. 

"But what's the fun in that?" she asked before launching herself at him. He quickly rolled away, barely dodging the bo staff aimed at his head. Captain Cold sighed before dropping his loot, knowing full well that it would get destroyed in the upcoming battle. Golden Glider gladly dropped what she was holding, shattering it. She quickly shot a warning shot at Roy, who had decided to try and get a shot in at her. Mick quickly engaged in combat with Caitlin, fire and Ice filing the remaining people's views. Pedestrians started to gather around the unbelievable scene, several filming on various devices. The battle lasted for twenty minutes, Cold engaged in battle with Ronnie, creating a similar sight to Frost and Heatwave's battle. Golden Glider had moved onto battle with Cisco after she coated Roy's bow in gold, rendering him useless. Green Arrow and Black Canary were both fighting White Canary, the two Canaries trading banter.

"That's a league move, were you a member?" Laurel asked while ducking a punch. Oliver sent a quick glare her way because he thought banter with who you were fighting was a bad idea, much to the disappointment of the whole Central team.

"Nah, they rejected my application," White Canary joked as she threw Oliver's bow out of his grasp, sending it tumbling into the nearest wall with a snap. He moved to get it, leaving the two Canaries to duke it out. Black Canary turned on the sonic device around her neck, sending the other down to the ground, covering her ears. She curled into the fetal postion at the noise, her face marred with agony. Laurel bent down, hoping to finally figure out who the mysterious woman was. She held her hand out preparing to unmask her when White Canary lashed out, a kick to the face sending her fully to the ground. A bruise already began to blossom on her cheek, causing her to groan. 

"Black Canary!" Roy shouted, already running to her. White Canary stood up next to her, smirking. Oliver aimed his bow at the villain's head, ready to unleash it should she move any closer to his friend. She didn't make a move towards the fallen woman, she just stood there smugly. She looked as if she had just won something. Perhaps she was proud she had defeated the other Canary, proving her self to be the better one. Roy and Oliver began to close in, neither farther then ten feet from the women. The standing woman turned to them and waved. 

"See ya next time," she declared before disappearing in a spark of lightning. The four from Starling stopped and stared in shock at her disappearance into thin air. The oldest Snart caught the other theives' attention, motioning to a glowing watch shaped gadget. 

"Au revior, Vibe," Golden Glider winked before fleeing. The other two Rouges sighed at her flair for dramatics before they escaped in a spark of lightning. 

"Not again," Cisco sighed, crossing his arms childishly. Ronnie dropped to the ground and Caitlin's shoulders sagged. Iris's car finally pulled up, her launching out of the seat. She had a smile on her face until she saw the expressions of the other heros. 

"Lightning saved them again?" She asked, seeming equally displeased. Eddie and her father walked after her, looking around the scene. 

"Can't you just make a thing that can stop his powers?" Eddie questioned.

"If we did," Cisco started, "Then we wouldn't have powers. and I don't know about you but I think a Cold, Heat, and Gold gun would beat a bunch of powerless people."

"Does that just regularly happen? Are they all metas that can teleport or?" Roy asked, confusion etched over his face. 

"No, our working theory is that they have a getaway man," Caitlin explained. "What is wrong with your city?" Roy questioned again, his arms crossed in annoyance. 

\-----

"She looked so smug! It was like she had a personal vendetta against you or something," Felicity babbled, rapidly typing at her computer all the way in Starling. Dig sighed at the fact she was no longer working comms, leaving him in the dark. It was a nasty habit of hers, something she picked up the second Laurel had forgiven her for not knowing where her sister was. Laurel still occasionally chewed her out about the fact she left the runaway college kids at a gas station, running all the way back to her mother's house. She stated that she had only run away to escape her hacker father who had figured out where she was. She now has a whole identity under "Lauren Phillips", an I.T. girl at Queen Consolidated.

"Listen Felicity, you're amazing but i don't care why she looked smug, I want to know who she is," Laurel explained into her phone all the way back at Star Labs, pacing so much she was practically wearing a hole into the floor. 

"I would love to tell you but she wears a mask for a- oh my god," Felicity cuts her self off as a soft "ping" echos through the Arrow cave. Laurel can hear the girl drop her phone onto the table as her typing speed manages to increase by 10 percent.

"What?" Laurel asks into the phone, hopeful. She had made Felicity keep facial software running for her sister and the other missing kids. 

"The Rouges are attacking again tonight. Someone knew I was gonna hack into their computer! The first heist was a rouse. All of you need to get out there now or the Bank on fifth street will be losing a _lot_ of money," Felicity explains franticly before Laurel ends the call to relay the message to her friends.

Unbeknownst to the heros, The Rouges have other targets in mind. Targets like Star Labs, for instance.


	4. Chapter 4

In the end, Cisco, Caitlin, Roy, and Ronnie ended up going to stop the bank. Apparently of the Rogues there was only Lisa and Mick. They had decided to team up with the Pied Piper, Peek-a-boo, and Weather Wizard. Normally they would have sent the whole team but Lisa spend half of her time yelling at Mark while Shawna and Hartley laughed at some inside joke. Mick, surprisingly, seemed to be the only one who was actually focused on the job. Cisco and Lisa started flirting the moment the made eye contact, leaving Cisco slightly flustered. Caitlin and Ronnie took this time to be couple bonding time, occasionally making fire or ice attacks if Shawna or Hartley laughed too loud. Roy took to getting the hostages out while simultaneously fighting Mark and Mick with Dig. He mentally decided to not team up with Central again. There wasn't even anyone running the comms for God's sake!

Unbeknownst to Roy, The people in the labs were fighting their own battle. Only a minute after the heroes left, the power had cut out. Oliver and Laurel instantly tensed, waiting for the oncoming attack. Joe and Iris had set out to fix the lights while Diggle was sent to look through the security feed once the power was back on. Unfortunately, that meant that he was alone in the cortex, resulting in him being taken out almost immediately. The second he hit the floor, Oliver and Laurel decided to to fight back. When the rounded a corner and found White Canary guarding a room, there was no hesitation in their attacks. She seemed to be counting on that as she dropped down so the two allies hit each other. Oliver grunted before giving up on physical fighting all together. He quickly notched an arrow, aiming at the villain's shoulder. Before he could get the shot off she catapulted at him, throwing his bow at the ground. Laurel quickly pulled her off of him, alerting Iris and Joe, who were just around the corner. At that point in time Captain Cold decided that it was his time to shine and iced the floor beneath the two detectives. Iris quickly let out a comment about how she wished she'd left with Eddie, causing White Canary to giggle. That caused her to let her guard down for a second, just enough time for Laurel to completely knock her to the floor. That distracted Cold, who then dropped his gun when Joe shot it. Captain Cold lit up his watch, illuminating his smirk in the dark hallway. The rogue disappeared in a glint of lightning and Oliver aimed an arrow just above White Canary, hoping to scare this 'Lightning' character. The hallway lit up with lightning just seconds later. The arrow hit and went through the speedster's shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground from sheer pain. His face was shrouded by shadows, unrecognizable to anyone as he struggled over trying to keep his hood down. Laurel quickly lashed out, hitting him and knocking him out. The loud thump of him hitting the floor woke up White Canary, who panicked. The man's “costume” wasn’t easily identifiable like a parka or like White Canary’s all white ensemble, it was just a red hoodie, converse, and jeans. He looks more suited to be walking the streets than to be in a super villain gang. The way he was laying on the floor had his arm covering his face, annoying the heroes. Joe reached out to move his arm, curious to see who the man beneath the hood was. In a blur the man hauled himself up, farther down the hallway, dragging the White Canary with him. Iris, the one closest to the room the crooks entered, ran into the room, only to be greeted with the sight of the man in the hoodie dripping blood down the pristine white walls of Star Labs. His hoodie still covered his face but he clearly was not feeling good because he fell onto his knees after a moment, panting. 

“We need to go! Do you hear me? We need to leave,” White Canary harshly informed him, panic edging its way into her voice. She roughly attempted to pull him up by his good shoulder, only to have him sink down to the knees again.

“You go. I’ll, I’ll just stay here for a bit,” the man said, his voice thick with pain and drowsiness. He then leaned against the wall, not even caring about the sounds of the heroes entering the room. His gaze was steady as he waved White Canary away. 

“No! Damn it, I’m the one who brought you into this. I'm not leaving you. C'mon who will Overwatch talk with about whatever nerdy stuff you talk about if we’re still here?” White Canary asked as she tried to get him to get up. This time she made no physical attempt but instead used vigorous hand motions. He looked up at her, the hood edging it's way off of his head. 

“Yeah, he’s not going anywhere. Neither are you,” Oliver said, pointing his bow at the man’s back. The speedster stiffened at the threat, looking like he was debating looking back and revealing his face to the heroes. His angle of leaning on the wall put him in the position where he could either look at the floor or reveal his face. Iris watched him raptly, hoping he would just glance up quickly. If she could find out who at least one of the masked Rouges were, she could likely figure out the other. Just based on the way White Canary was protecting him, they must have known each other for a while. 

“Jesus Ollie, I know you’re brutal now but really? You condone the pipeline?” The White Canary asked sharply, crossing her arms. Unnoticed to everyone, the Lightning stopped pressing his hand against his shoulder, assessing whether or not it’s healed. Just as Oliver moved to shoot White Canary because oh-my-God-she-knows-my-name is the only thing registering in his head, there is a crackle and the room was filled with lightning. The rouge Canary disappeared and the man stood, engulfed in lightning. As he turned to face them, his whole body vibrated, making his face unreadable. 

“You can shoot to stop, but never, ever, shoot to kill,” He said before disappearing with Oliver’s bow and quiver. He opened his hand to discover a note that read _It makes you no better than us_. 

“Guys, we have his blood and handwriting, you know what that means?” Iris asked, excitement racing through her. They can figure out who this man is, most likely leading to discover who the White Canary is, meaning that it would be easier to take down the Rogues.


	5. Chapter 5

“We can figure out who he is. Nice going Iris!” Laurel stated, highfiving the female detective. Iris beamed as she began to take the blood off the wall. Oliver huffed, pulling his hood off violently. He disliked the fact that his friends ignored that White Canary knew his name. Also the fact she acted like she knew him. 

“Who exactly is Overwatch?” Joe asked, looking at the group of vigilantes for answers and finding only shrugs as a response. 

“I think we have a bigger problem. The fast man has no priors. He’s not even in the CCPD database for a ticket,” Laurel explained, looking at the screen that displayed No Matches across the screen. 

“That would make sense. He only picks them up, he’s never actually stolen or hurt someone before. He might have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and gotten roped into crime. It’s happened before,” Oliver added to the conversation, not taking his eyes off the note. It was oddly familiar to him and he couldn’t place why.

“Check the hospitals. If that man is anything like my brother Wally, he’s probably been in there at least once,” Iris proposed to Laurel, smiling uneasily at the mention of her new brother, Wally, and his need for speed.

"Theres no record of him. I'm guessing he hasn't been here long. Should we get Cisco to look at people how recently moved here?" Laurel asked, frowning at the lack of any result of their searches. 

"I heard my name! and someone ruined the paint job. What exactly happened here?" Cisco asked as he walked into the room, looking at the blood on the wall with distain. Caitlin and Ronnie both appeared worried, looking around to see if anyone was missing. Roy and Diggle seemed unfazed, as if that happened in Star City all the time.

"Could we bring the other metas into this? I mean, I don't think Magenta would help us because she literally had Lightning drop off her lunch because she forgot it before but the others might help us," Caitlin proposed. The majority of the room looked over at Ronnie, who shrugged noncommittally. 

"You could always use Magenta to set a trap without her knowing," Oliver suggested. The whole of team Star didn't look pleased at the idea. "Or you could not and figure out another way."

"Okay, I need coffee. Anyone else want anything?" Iris asked as she began to move towards the elevator. Almost everyone chimed in an order and Iris sighed, knowing she would have to pay for it her self. 

"Ollie, you're rich, go pay for our food. Thanks!" Laurel chimed in, forcing Oliver to leave with Iris. 

\---

"Try not to look too suspicious Mr. Baseball hat and Sunglasses," Iris told Oliver as he begrudgingly pushed it the hat up and took off his glasses. The one girl they had passed in the store had given him a weird look before running over to a red-head guy. As a detective, Iris didn't want to be seen with with a guy who literally looks like he wants to rob the store. 

"I'm only here to pay, why couldn't you call me in when you're about to pay?" Oliver complained, looking uncomfortable in the store. 

"Listen here rich boy, you have more use than being a seat warmer." Iris said, reaching for a a coffee mix slightly above her range. 

"Like getting stuff of the top shelf?" Oliver asked as he grabbed the coffee mix. Iris, in response, slapped him on the arm. He was _definitely_ off her three list. The two wandered over towards the red-head and the girl as they looked for Cisco's popcorn brand. Of all the things to be picky about, popcorn was a weird one in Iris's opinion.

"Okay, first of all no more Mac and Cheese! you're gonna burn down the house because you can't cook," The girl shut the man down, snatching the box from his hands. At the sound of her voice Oliver turned to look over t her from an row over after leaving Iris to search for Roy's meal. "Ba-" She started, before meeting Iris's eyes for a millisecond. "-itch I forgot my wallet at home. We should go get that," She finished, grabbing Red-Head, who Iris saw was only dyed red, and marching towards the exit. He seemed confused but not really startled, taking half a second to let go of the cart. Oliver began moving to intercept, nodding quickly so Iris realizes to start tailing them. By the time the two mystery people made it out of the store both Iris and Oliver were following them. They moved to turn a corner but Oliver grabbed the guy's arm, stopping them. The guy only then jumped at that, ripping his arm out of Oliver's grip before the man could turn him around. 

"Stop, Sara I know it's you," Oliver said, causing the girl, and by extension the boy, to stop. She turned around violently, her head held high as she glared daggers at Oliver. The guy turned around, his shoulder low as if he'd rather by anywhere else but there. The second Iris saw his face, she understood. 

"Barry what the fuck?" Iris shouted and Barry looked behind him, as if measuring if he could run away before shrugging. 

"I had to leave," He practically whispered and Oliver had to stop Iris from slapping him. He didn't _have_ to do anything.

"You piece of shit, I thought you were dead! Why wouldn't you tell me?" She demanded, glaring. 

"Because then _He_ would have known. Hell, I told no one and he still knew. I couldn't put you in that kind of risk," He stated, looking away from her.

"And who are you talking about? Both my Dad and me are cops now. We can protect you," Iris said and Sara scrunched her face up like she didn't believe it. 

"Not from this guy, you can't," Sara said, protectively as she defended her friend's decision. It made Iris's heart twist to see someone defend Barry in the way she used to. 

"Sara why did you leave?" Oliver questioned, moving the subject from Barry, who's eyes were teary and refused to meet anyone else's. 

"What can I say? I'm a thrill seeker," She joked. "It was nice seeing you two but we've gotta go. People waiting for us."

Sara and Barry disappeared around the corner, leaving a shocked Oliver and Iris to stand there. 

"What does Sara have that I don't? How can she protect him better than two cops?" Iris pondered aloud, her eyes not moved from where the two turned the corner into the alley way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken so long, I just got my first job, my license, and took my finals.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Read the chapter note

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so this is kinda dark? Like i don't know where this is coming from. But, uh, trigger warning for suicidal thoughts and implied torture

In the two weeks following the encounter, Sara and Barry didn't surface up anywhere in Central City. Iris was absolutely crushed when she had to explain the encounter to Laurel. Laurel's face had turned to stone, trying in vain to not show any weakness. It was a trait both her and Oliver shared, much to their friends' annoyance. Oliver, however, had shut down after the incident, making constant calls to his tech girl, seemingly ignoring everything else. 

The Rogues had also yet to appear, on a more worrying note. Typically when a group of thieves disappear, they are plotting something or have been arrested. Judging by the fact Iron Heights has gained no more meta inmates in the two weeks, the team was about to strike. Or that someone attacked them and they were dead or recovering, a small voice in the back of Iris's consciousness thought.

Team Star had unfortunately chosen that time to take a break. Caitlin and Ronnie had taken a much needed honeymoon to Coast city, Martin and Clarissa in the city as well, trying to counteract the men's condition. The trio that worked at the CCPD was buried in cases, a new murderer making his rounds around town. 

Starling city's heroes all had returned to their home, minus an annoyed Laurel. She claimed she'd be no help to them with Sara still in her head, so she was designated Cisco's teaching assistant. She taught the students how to fight while Cisco helped them control their powers. Her favorite “student” was the fearless Dinah Drake, who she admitted probably had more experience than her. Dinah and her significant other, Vincent, were former CCPD who were brought out of hiding by the new murderer who was making rounds. By that point, the class was just “how to control your powers and not die”. The majority of the students were adults who knew how to not die. In fact, the only kid was Magenta, who claims that the Rogues would never let her get hurt. 

The major problem at the moment was the murderous speedster. At first it had seemed to be the rogues' very own escape artist, Lightning. The second someone even suggested he was Lightning, Magenta shot the idea down. She claimed that it wasn't his style and the yellow clad man was the reason the rogues were lying low. The man also sounded a lot like what Barry had described when he was younger. A man surrounded by red lightning, wearing a yellow suit, and with murderous intent. He passed that test with flying colors.

“I don’t understand. What does this guy want?” Iris sighed, leaning into Eddie. Eddie put an arm around her in a half hug. 

“I wish I knew,” The blonde detective responded. Iris’s father walked by, pausing at the end of the couch. At first he hadn’t approved of Eddie and Iris’s relationship but now, at scenes like this, he was glad that he stopped being so overprotective. Eddie clearly loved his daughter, and that was all he wanted for her. 

“If he’s the same man that killed Barry’s mom, we have to assume he has a bigger goal.” The couple looked up from the files scattered across the table to Joe. To Iris he looked tired, dark bags under his eyes. He still held himself courageously, and Iris knew it would be okay. They would catch this murderer. They always did. 

A window shattered, send glass spraying across the room. Eddie pulled Iris tighter to him, keeping her face safe, while Joe pulled a gun. Standing in his living room, a grim look on their faces, were the Rogues. White Canary stood at the front, her arms held up to signal surrender. 

“His goal is distraction. That’s why there haven’t been any murders in the past two days. He got what he wanted,” She tried to explain. 

“Why would we trust you? You just broke into my house,” Joe spat, his gun still pointed at the team. Silently, she removed her mask. Sara Lance.

-

“Please,” Barry begged, trying to get away from the man. “Please just kill me.”

“If I do that, then how will you atone for your sins?” The man asked, roughly grabbing Barry by the shoulders. “Smile for the camera,” the man ordered, turning Barry towards a camera and tripod. While Barry couldn’t make himself smile, he was too afraid to look away. He didn’t know what the man would do. He _never_ knew. 

At first he expected death. Most likely slow and painful, if the other murders were anything to go by, but he didn’t expect to be begging for it. If he were dead, the man couldn’t hurt him anymore. There would be no more making up for his mistakes. Whatever they had been. It wouldn’t matter, he would just be gone. Dead people don’t make mistakes. And dead people certainly don’t need to make up for them. No, dead people just were. At one point, they would be held accountable for actions, but not after the grave. Not after they’ve gone into the light. Not after the light has left their eyes and only their physical form is left behind. Dead people wouldn’t have to suffer through the man’s torture. 

“Any last words?” The man asked, startling Barry out of his stupor. When Barry didn’t immediately respond, he grabbed him by the chin and forced him up. Oddly enough, this was the thing Barry hated the most. Looking into those eyes, so filled with hate. Barry’s never done anything to this man why- why did he have to suffer through this? All he ever wanted was to free his Dad from jail. But this- this was his final moments. He wanted to be strong. He needed to be, if not for himself, then for his friends. If this was going to be televised, he wanted them to remember him as he wasn’t: Strong, Brave. 

“Go. To. Hell.” Barry hissed, and the man hit him with enough force to send him sprawling to the ground. Barry’s head hit the ground with a crack and suddenly everything felt fuzzy. The couldn’t really feel his hands,trying desperately to get enough of a grip on the floor to lift him off. His ears rang, and he wanted to just curl up into a ball and cry. God, it hurt. At the same time, it didn’t. It was like a background pain, like one he dreamt. This was it, he’d finally repented for whatever sin the man claimed he commited. He could finally go now. He was free.


	8. Author's Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's note regarding the fate of this story

I've decided to rewrite this story. I've already published my rewritten version of chapter one, and it will be a continuation of that story. I so far have three and a half chapters written, and eleven chapters planned out. I'll try to publish that semi-regularly. I'll republish chapter one under the story "Tainted Heart" and hopefully you'll like the reworks. There were just some parts of this story I wrote on a whim and I felt didn't fit. I'll leave this story up though, and sorry!


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